Climbing the Hill

Amy Keller | 9/1/2010

LeMieux keeps a hectic pace and has won praise from constituent groups for his accessibility. [Photo: Katherine Lambert]

Constituents give LeMieux high marks for accessibility. A cigar shop owner from Orlando told Trend that he and some industry lobbyists had tried unsuccessfully for years to get face time with Florida Sen. Bill Nelson to talk about some of his industry's regulatory concerns. Getting in LeMieux's office, he says, was a breeze.

LeMieux also maintains a breakneck pace calculated to raise his profile both in Washington and back in Florida. On a typical workday in June, he kicked off the morning at the Mayflower Hotel in northwest Washington, where he delivered a 20-minute speech to a group of central Florida business leaders in town to lobby in support of the region's modeling and simulation industry.

"Republicans are already talking about Bill Nelson, and they think that he will be a target when his seat comes up in 2012. It certainly doesn't strain credibility to see LeMieux's actions as setting the groundwork for a Senate run against Nelson." — Stuart Rothenberg, political analyst, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report

Over the next several hours, he attended a confirmation hearing for two military commanders, taped a public service message, met with the CEO of CSX Corp., spoke with representatives of a Florida charity seeking help in getting a federal earmark, attended two luncheons — one with the Senate Republican Conference and another with members of the Florida congressional delegation — and tried to get his House colleagues to go to the floor to call for more action from the administration in dealing with the Gulf oil spill.

That afternoon, LeMieux hosted then-CentCom commander Gen. David Petraeus, who dropped by the office for an impromptu visit. Washington was still abuzz over Gen. Stanley McChrystal's dismissal, and LeMieux's position on the Senate Armed Services Committee gave him a small but important role to play in the controversy. Within the next several days, LeMieux and his colleagues would conduct confirmation hearings for Petraeus to succeed McChrystal as commander of the war in Afghanistan. LeMieux said he told Petraeus "that if he has any problems with the diplomatic corps over there, he should take it directly to the president." Exiting the meeting, LeMieux then raced down a marble hallway to the Capitol to vote on a bill that will impose new sanctions against Iran.

LeMieux, Gov. Charlie Crist's former chief of staff, says it was "painful" for him to abandon his support for the governor once Crist decided to run as an unaffiliated candidate. He insists that despite his endorsement of Marco Rubio, his friendship with Crist is "fine." LeMieux's ties to Crist have given his foes political ammunition. [Photo: Phil Coale / AP]